Mog Rod

Not much to report for today. Mainly I took out all the parts that had been piling up in the ‘interior’ area of the Solstice, cleaned and photographed them for resale, and stacked them up elsewhere for the time being. I pulled out some of the carpeting and a panel or two, but didn’t get into pulling out the dash like I’d hoped.

I’m getting a lot of messages over on the Solstice Forum about interest in parts, though many are for items that either aren’t on the car at all or I haven’t taken off yet (with a few being things I may need).

I was originally going to cut out the whole seating area of the Solstice as soon as possible, but I may leave it in place for the time being for various reference points. Also, I forsee myself saving most of the driveshaft tunnel, seeing as there’s mounting points built into it for the shifter, parking brake, and a few other items. That may just get transplanted right into the Morgan to save a lot of time and effort.

All in all, a mildly satisfying amount of progress. Also, the more I see the bared structure of the Solstice, the more I feel this is going to be a much more ‘easier’ transplant than I originally expected… here’s hoping that’s the case!

Quick bit of work for today, attempted to empty the gas tank and hacked off the frame from behind the axle on back. We were going to drain the fuel tank after I got the fuel pump removed, but found it too heavy to tip, and we somehow didn’t have enough tubing around to do a gravity siphon. I closed it back up and we’ll get some tubing from work on Monday. As for the back of the car, just grabbed the Sawzall and cut away a big ol’ chunk. Now I’ve got a better look at how everything’s set up.

At this point I can either remove stuff from the back of the Morgan to start doing comparisons and measurements, or continue clearing out the Solstice, though to do the latter I’m going to need to find somewhere to move all the stuff I’ve already removed… or just start actually getting it sold off… which would be nice.

Between labelling a few wires last night and removing the gas tank tonight, I now have access to and visibility of the rear axle setup. One thing that immediately stood out was the axle-to-frame brace on the front passenger side of of the pumpkin; going to have to make some kind of similar setup in the Morgan, but that shouldn’t prove too difficult.

The gas tank proved tricky to remove… in part, I think, because the manual suggests removing it from underneath the car instead of from above. I don’t think they expect Solstice owners to have removed the entire back half of their car in the process. The most difficult part of it really was having to lean in and over to reach the two handles on the tank, and then lift up and out. It almost rotated over on me, and seeing as I don’t care for a gasoline shower, I’m glad it stopped. The tank seems to have a good bit of gas in it, which will likely go in one of our spare cans and fuel the lawn mower.

Now I need to start clearing stuff out of the interior of the Solstice and move forward through the cab. I’m quickly running out of space to put all the stuff I’ve removed…

… well, actually feeling like I’m coming down with something, but that’s of no matter. Got home early enough to pull the exhaust out from under the car. Cut it into three pieces (muffler + tip, main tube, front connector section) and tossed it out in the shop lift area for the time being. I took a few photos of the now-visible axle, as you can see below. Next up is to disconnect and remove the gas tank so I can get a better view of the mechanics of the rear end. I really need to get a hold of Bill at Isis Imports soon to start talking about what he’s done before.

… the Solstice is exhaust-less. Two bolts below the cat, and four rather stubborn rubber hangers at the back, and it’s laying on the ground. Nothing to take photos of since it’s still under the car (no room to pull it out, nor any place to put it at the moment). Gotta find out if it’s worth anything more than scrap metal.

In a pair of random “oh what the hell, let’s rip into the Solstice” moments over the weekend, I managed to get the whole trunk area cleared off of the back of the Solstice. Also, I managed to pull off a wholly intact rear passenger side wheel well liner (something to sell) and get the whole convertible roof assembly, including the latching mechanisms, off the car (something to really sell).

Both my father and I were quite amazed at the sheer size of the Solstice’s stock muffler… it’s quite literally larger than both mufflers on my Corvette put together. Also, having the whole gas tank assembly there in one piece is quite nice, as that should transfer right over to the Morgan. Looking at how the rear suspension and rear axle are mounted to the car, I’m not expecting nearly as much headache as some people have foretold in fitting it onto the Morgan.

All in all a productive weekend, if nothing else for clearing up a large amount of stuff from the Solstice that was in the way and not really salvageable.. also, I’m damn glad to not have to deal with that god-awful fiberglass any more now that the trunk bin’s out of the picture.

When they make a fiberglass trunk bin, they make a fiberglass trunk bin.

Started pulling apart the trunk area on the parts car Solstice, only got as far along as you see in the photos. I could really beat on it, but I have to be careful to avoid damaging any wiring, the gas tank, or most importantly convertible roof (that could make back a huge chunk of my money spent on the Solstice). I got one corner off and will next attempt to work my way across. I need to get rid of some of the metal frame across the back first and then work my way down. I may attempt to remove the convertible roof first just to get it out of the way.

Also.. two showers later, and I’m still itching from fiberglass shards… I really do hate that stuff when it breaks down…

Started pulling apart the Solstice today, got the hood, door, and rear bumper off, as well as a bunch of other small bits. The more I dig into this car, the more impressed I get with GM’s engineering with them. There was the odd problem off it’s tendency to lean towards the front driver’s side corner, which definitely made moving it into the garage a chore. Took about a good hour or so to move it in, and I haven’t sweated so much in a long while. I’m properly beat after this weekend.

I took plenty of photos of the parts, and mom took a few of the move itself, but all I’ve got for you guys at the moment is the Solstice and Morgan crammed into the garage.